100 Days

There are now less than 100 days until the midterms (99 to be exact) and this could turn out to be the most important 100 days of Obama’s first term. The sprint to the finish sets up well: the BP oil spill is capped, financial reform has passed, and health care reform is well in the rear-view mirror. The next three and a half months will be action packed. We could see:

A new Supreme Court Justice

A major overhaul to campaign finance reform in the wake of Citizens United

A Climate/Energy reform bill that puts us on a sustainable energy path

Immigration reform – AZ laws are downright wrong

Repeal of DADT

A second stimulus package

That is the positive list. The negative list could/might start after Nov 2nd. That one includes:

What do we do to make sure that doesn’t happen? The good thing is that polling numbers have bottomed out for Democrats and in some tracking polls they have started to regain some ground. The biggest thing that we all have to do is GET EXCITED!!!!! The biggest gap between Democrats and Republicans right now is in enthusiasm. The enthusiasm surrounding the Obama campaign led to one of the most convincing Democratic victories in modern memory.

As of right now, the Tea Party – and the Sarah Palin/Michelle Bachman crazies that go along with it – are winning the enthusiasm battle. But, the good thing for us is they are FAILING the idea battle. The Democrats are the party of ideas and the party of trying to rebuild America post-Bush – but we can’t let the enthusiasm fade. Change is not measured in minutes; change is the result of a sustained and steady quest toward a more perfect union. Change is measured in years and in Presidencies and the next 100 days will forever shape the Obama Presidency.

When I look out and I see all of you, I think – Look at you! You’re just kids.

And maybe, maybe its because so many of you are so young, or at least young at heart – that, you could imagine what had not been done before. You didn’t know any better when people said I couldn’t win.

But, but here’s the thing – I guess, that’s most important to me – is that you take the spirit, the culture of this campaign, and you keep applying it, not just to campaigns… That sense of possibility that you guys can do anything, that you can reimagine the world, that you can lead, not by trying to manipulate your way – or push down somebody else to get your way – but, instead lead – through the force of your example, and your discipline, and your creativity.

What an enormous force you’ve got inside yourselves. Don’t put that on the shelf and wait for the next four years. Next week, next month, next year, for the rest of your lives – cling on to that essential thing about you.

What made this campaign special was you.

And don’t let anybody forget that. Don’t let anybody take that away from you. You, together, can change the world.